What Is A American Manicure?

American manicure is an elegant yet unassuming nail look. Featuring muted colors and subtle white tips, this style is great for those not ready for the boldness of French manicures and embellishments such as rhinestones.

Opting for either the timeless American pink-and-white manicure, or asking your manicurist to paint each fingertip a different hue, manicures are a trendy fashion statement that are always in fashion.

The Basics

Pale-pink nails adorned with stark white tips have long been considered the hallmark of a French manicure, but since its return in 2021, nail artists began playing around with this classic look by adding vibrant hues or designs such as leopard print to the white tip for what has come to be known as an American manicure – which has even been worn by celebrity icons like Kourtney Kardashian and Dua Lipa!

An American manicure differs from its French counterpart in that it features a more subdued white shade which offers less contrast against your natural base color, creating a more subtle and natural result. Plus, this style looks great whether your nails are shorter or longer and can be worn for any special event or everyday wear. Plus it’s simple and straightforward to DIY at home–all it requires are some essential supplies like your favorite polish and clear topcoat!

Coffin Nails

Though its name might suggest otherwise, this glam manicure style actually provides a fantastic way to bring out a natural nail shape. Coffin nails with their long tapered shape and sharp tip give an illusion of narrow nail beds and slim fingers.

Chaun Legend created this elegant and sophisticated manicure inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat’s work using coffin nails and multiple colors of polish to achieve this elegant and sophisticated effect.

Subtle shades blend naturally into the tips of nails for an eye-catching shadow effect, creating an elegant American manicure look. Feel free to add extra nail art for some flair.

Oval Nails

Oval nails offer an ideal natural-looking manicure and have less breakage than classic styles due to their round tips, with sharp corners less likely to catch clothing or tear fingernails when you use your hands for everyday tasks like typing or picking things up.

Make an impressionful statement with an alternative red-and-white color block: try curved lines that follow the contours of your oval nail for an eye-catching fashionista look that will keep your talons looking polished for longer and help hide any outgrowth between salon visits.

Ombre is another beautiful option for oval nails, featuring the gradual transition of colors from darker to lighter hues. This technique works particularly well when applied to stateside French manicures where off-white polish bleeds seamlessly into soft pink or nude shades.

Gradual Fade

French manicures remain the go-to style for nails that exude elegance and grace, but other stunning nail trends have recently emerged, including American manicures which offer similar styles but with more natural and blendable finishes.

Manicurists use natural or nude hues for nail bases before adding white polish on the tips with white paint and applying a clear top coat to protect it against chipping or peeling.

The American manicure is an ideal nail trend for people looking for less eye-catching options to polish their nails with. Additionally, this trend works great as an everyday look that fits seamlessly with different outfits and occasions.

White Tips

Kourtney Kardashian and Dua Lipa both sport this style, making it ideal for those who desire a feminine aesthetic without going overboard with bold color choices.

This version involves painting light nude or pink shades on the base of each nail before applying off-white polish to its tips, which creates an organic and soft finish resembling natural nails.

Icey Milli suggests that this style of manicure is also an ideal opportunity to experiment with pastel nail colors, which look particularly gorgeous against this style of nail. Furthermore, you could request colored tips in order to give more personality to your look.